The Směr Cooperative was among the largest toy producers in socialist Czechoslovakia. In the 1980s, Směr manufactured simpler, smaller version of Igráček figures under the name Hej Rup. The series included a physician: two doctor toys belong to the Medical Museum collection and – although they wear no masks – have been included in the COVID […]
Playmobil, the German version of the Igráček figure, has been produced by Geobra Brandstätter GmbH in Zirndorf since 1974. During the Corona pandemic, the makers of both Igráček and Playmobil used their production capacity to make face masks. For charitable purposes, both Igráček and Playmobil donned face masks themselves. Playmobil HeldInnen des Alltags campaign […]
Object of the Month: June 2020 Igracek Figures With Face Masks Face masks have become the most prominent symbol of the Corona pandemic in the Czech lands and beyond. Masks represent, on the one hand, the efforts of thousands of people to contribute to defeating the plague, to protect themselves and to help those […]
Object of the Month: May 2020 Surgical Face Mask, 1970s- 1980s Masks we have used during past three months and continue to use to protect our fellow human beings and ourselves during the pandemic, were originally intended for medical personnel. Face masks were introduced to stop the spread of droplet infection beyond operation theatres, maternal […]
Object of the Month: April 2020 Bülau Chest Drainage Apparatus COVID 19 is no flu. Yet the way it harms, the way it spreads and the way in which we try to protect ourselves, are not very different from the „Spanish Flu“ of the early 20 century. In 1869, a Hamburg physician designed a technique to help […]
Object of the Month: March 2020 Leyser Medical Thermometer High body temperature signals illness, usually an infectious disease. Today, thermometer is often the first instrument to detect COVID-19. Contactless digital thermometers and infrared cameras help recognize people who may be affected at airports or borders. First instruments for measuring body temperature emerged in Italy at […]
Object of the Month: February 2020 Coin-Catcher How best to remove a five franc coin stuck in the pharynx or the esophagus? Until the early 20 century, foreign objects were often removed from the throat without eye control. Instruments for such operations were often introduced centuries ago. “Coin catcher” after C. F. Graefe, an instrument in […]
Teplo-Fornax Winter is coming and staying. To heat both the bed and the body, hot bricks and stones had been used and in the 16 century metal hot water bottles were introduced in Europe. The early 20 century saw the birth of the electric blanket, which transforms electric current into heat. All these sources of […]
Medical Museum (National Medical Library) Exhibition General Medical Practice: Past to Present During the 19 and 20 centuries, the notion, content and conditions of medical practice in the Czech lands underwent turbulent developments. New „pocket exhibition“ in the NML Medical Museum shows the transformation of the setting of general medical practice, the advent of new […]